If there were still questions about whether Zaccharie Risacher deserved to go No. 1, everybody got their answer two nights ago.
On Nov. 6, the New York Knicks came into town hoping for an easy win, and their fans came with them. State Farm Arena looked like Madison Square Garden for a second and definitely sounded like we were in New York during stretches of the game, but thankfully the Hawks were able to eke out a 121-116 win. The Knicks led for most of the game, but when it came down to crunch time, they went ice cold. Knicks star Jalen Brunson finished with only 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting with three turnovers to just four assists. Down the stretch, when his team needed him most, he was only able to muster up four points in the fourth quarter.
On the other end, it was the usual bane of New York’s existence that orchestrated the comeback win. There might not be a more hated man in New York than Trae Young, and he gave them a few more reasons to hate after his performance. Young finished with 23 points, 10 assists and six rebounds one game after scoring just two points on 1-for-10 shooting against the defending champion Boston Celtics. He then told all the Knicks to take their butts home during the postgame, and he didn’t use the word butt.
It also didn’t hurt that the Hawks got the best performance from any rookie this season so far. Risacher lit up the Knicks for 33 points, which included six 3s, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocked shots. He did it all for the Hawks, but it was his clutch shot-making that stole the show, and the home crowd loved it. Even though most Hawks fans became familiar with Risacher after he was drafted, these were the high hopes the fanbase had for whoever the Hawks selected as the No. 1 overall pick.
His scoring explosion bumped up his season average to just above 12 a game, which actually leads all rookies. He was also the first rookie to score 30 this season. Now that we have seen Risacher do it and we know that he can do it, Hawks fans are salivating for more. And I believe they will get it because Risacher is in the best position of all rookies.
Risacher is one of the rookie leaders in minutes, as he is currently fourth. He is one of the few rookies who is being trusted to start and close games. And with De’Andre Hunter out with a knee issue, it should remain like that for the foreseeable future, and even possibly when Hunter returns. Secondly, no other rookie is playing with a dynamic superstar like Young. Young might be an elite scoring threat, but his greatest ability is his passing. If you are open, Young will find you, and Risacher took full advantage of that against the Knicks. If he can continue to knock down open 3s, Risacher’s average will look a lot closer to 20 than 12 points per game. And lastly, Risacher has shown the ability to stuff the stat sheet like no other rookie. He might not be excellent at anything yet, but he isn’t bad at anything either. He is a jack of all trades; he can pass, he can score, he can rebound, and we learned during the game that he can play defense too.
These three reasons create a perfect storm for Risacher to be the top rookie this year and take home the award.
